


all about us

by bakusaiga



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-01
Updated: 2012-08-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 03:10:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20481869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bakusaiga/pseuds/bakusaiga
Summary: it was then, dancing under the scrutinizing gazes of his people, and the glow of the full moon that iroh decided that he was going to do whatever it took to make korra the happiest person in world. — korra/iroh ii.





	1. dancing in harmony

**Author's Note:**

> if this starts to seem familiar to you, i swear i'm not plagiarizing/stealing anything. your girl's just crossposting old stuff from my old fanfiction.net as i leave it in the dust in hopes of entering a new era of writing.

** **all about us** **

.

_'cause lovers dance when they're feeling in love_  
_spotlight's shining it's all about us_  
_it's oh, oh, all about uh, uh, us_  
_and every heart in the room will melt_  
_this is a feeling i've never felt_  
_but it's all about us_

\- all about us ; he is we

* * *

There's an effortlessness in the ridiculous little twirl she makes, laughter bubbling over as she collides into his chest. Her fingers grip at the fabric of his white dress shirt and his hands easily find their place on her waist. Her head quickly makes itself comfortable against his chest and her arms snake around his shoulders, hands clasping together at the base of his neck.

The soft, earthy scent that is purely Korra overwhelms his senses and his fingers grip at her waist a little tighter as he sways with her under the moonlight.

He isn't really sure how they got to this point - dancing under the moonlight, several of the Ember Island locals marveling at the display between the General of the United Forces and the Avatar - but he can't bring himself to complain.

"You seem to be in an awfully chipper mood." he murmurs, resting his chin atop her head and catching sight of all the prying people surrounding them, growing the slightest bit uncomfortable under their scrutinizing gazes; it was always difficult to tell if their disapproval was aimed at their prince, or their avatar.

"Am I not allowed to be?" she asked, pulling back to meet his gaze.

Iroh gave the faintest of smiles, quickly forgetting the audience they'd gathered as he watched her cross her arms over her chest and raise a delicate brow in a very Korra-like manner.

"I never once said you weren't allowed," he answered, pulling her back to him and pressing his lips ever so softly against her temple, "I was simply making an observation. You've never agreed to dance without some form of protest, so I think I'm allowed to be curious."

He watched in silence as Korra's stoic expression slowly transformed; her lips curling downward into a frown, and the slow way her lower lip jutted out into the smallest of pouts made it nearly impossible for him not to laugh, but he managed it with only an amused smirk tugging at his lips.

"It's been a while since we've had time to ourselves," she mumbled, uncrossing her arms and resting her hands against his chest, "I just wanted to make the best of it."

The sadness in her eyes was evident; it was so very clear he was sure his heart would break if he couldn't make that feeling go away, but he understood that their positions in the world made it impossible for him to ever completely remove that feeling of loneliness in her.

Slipping his hand in hers, Iroh twirled her around again, glad to pull some more infectious laughter from her lips as he did so; it was then, dancing under the scrutinizing gazes of his people, and the glow of the full moon that Iroh decided that he was going to do whatever it took to make Korra the happiest person in world.

**continued.**


	2. a cup of tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tea helps. tea always helps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this had been previously following the prompts for a korroh week set, but i can't find the post, & i cannot remember the prompts for the life of me, so when i finally get back to continuing this story i'll be doing something different, maybe.

** **you're everything** **

.

_you are the strength that keeps me walking._  
_you are the hope that keeps me trusting._  
_you are the light to my soul._  
_you are my purpose, you're everything._

\- everything ; lifehouse

* * *

He doesn't think it's good enough. Doesn't believe she'll like it. It's too red.

With a frustrated sigh, he sends the ring back and tells the jeweler that he'll be back later when he's not so out of sorts. He'd been to every jeweler on the island before they left, visited just about every jeweler in the Fire Nation in search for the perfect ring but he'd yet to find one that would suit her well enough. One that he was sure she would love.

"General Iroh?"

The General tensed immediately, fearing he'd been caught by the very woman he'd been hoping to surprise. Quickly, however, he realized that the voice echoing in his ears did not match the voice of the woman that had called out to him. Turning his head in the direction of the voice, Iroh located the source of the voice and visibly relaxed.

It was only Asami.

"Miss Sato," Iroh greeted her with a curt nod, not sure if he should be worried about her being there or not, "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Ah, well, I wanted to look around." she mumbled, scratching the back of her head in a nervous manner, "Korra, Mako and Bolin are doing some training, and I didn't want to interrupt. To be honest I kind of thought you'd be doing the same."

The tension quickly made its way back in between his shoulders as Asami glanced past him, a thin brow arching upwards at the sight of the jewelry shop he'd just exited.

"Yes, well…" Iroh mumbled, quickly trying to cover his tracks, "I had other business to attend to."

Asami crossed her arms over her chest, that dark brow seeming to quirk up even more. "At a jewelry shop? Really?"

He assumed he could have covered for himself a bit better if he truly wanted to. If he truly tried, but he was in dire need of some assistance, and who better to help him find a perfect ring for Korra than her best friend?

"I was looking for a ring." Iroh admitted, fumbling with the white gloves he'd stuffed in his pockets earlier, "For Korra."

Asami stared at him for a moment, expression stoic and he was ready to say it was all a joke just to get some kind of reaction from the heiress when she broke into a large grin.

"You're going to propose to Korra!?" she shrieked, jumping up and tossing her arms around his neck, leaving him momentarily dumbfounded.

"It's about time, too!" she continued, pulling back just as Iroh came to his senses, "Did you get the ring? Can I see it? When are you-"

"Miss Sato." Iroh interjected, holding her by her shoulders at arms length, "I have _not_ gotten the ring. I've been having a bit of trouble finding one, actually, and was hoping that you might be able to offer me some feminine expertise on the matter."

Asami's lips curled up into a smirk, causing Iroh to wonder if he would regret asking for her help.

"I'd love to help."

Without another word, she took him by the hand and led him back into the jewelry shop, leaving him with the thought that the day was going to be a long one.

.

He had been right.

The day had been a long one. Far too long. But after an endless amount of searching, he'd finally found the perfect ring.

Of course it was far more trying a task than he'd expected. He'd explained to Asami that he would have preferred to do things the traditional way, to carve her a betrothal necklace and follow the customs of the Water Tribe to show Korra just how much she meant to him, but he was nowhere near having the proper skills to make a decent looking necklace, worthy of Korra. And he certainly didn't want to have someone else do it for him; it felt too impersonal.

After listening to his reasoning, Asami remembered a quaint little shop she'd passed by - that he could not believe he'd missed in all his searching - and after practically turning the whole shop upside down, spotted the perfect ring.

The band was pure silver, with a beautifully cut sapphire sitting in between to small freshwater pearls.

Just one look at it and he knew that was the one. The perfect ring for Korra.

With Asami's agreement, he purchased the ring and after a few words of thanks, he parted from the heiress and made his way back home.

The ring was currently resting in a small blue box in the pocket of his pants as he made his way into his room, exhaustion finally taking over. He'd just finished hiding the tiny velvet box when Korra walked in with a cup of tea in hand.

"Long day?" she asked, handing him the cup, the tea's delicious scent - White Jasmine. Always Jasmine - filling his nostrils as he took it from her, taking a small sip, "I didn't catch sight of you the whole day."

"The day was a brutal one." Iroh answered with a small smirk as he sat on his bed, leaning back against the headboard as he pulled Korra into his lap, "But the tea helps. Tea always helps. How was your training?"

"_Tea always helps_." Korra mocked, pulling a soft chuckle from his lips before letting out a heavy sigh. Leaning back so she was resting against his chest, Korra murmured, "Brutal, too. You would think Mako might lighten up because Pro-bending season just ended, but that thought would be wrong. Very, very wrong."

Iroh frowned, taking another sip of his tea before setting the cup on his bedside table and resting his chin atop her head, "He's not in a very good mood as of late, is he?"

"I think he's finally noticing that Bo and Asami might have more than friendly feelings towards one another." Korra mused, tapping her chin with her index finger, as she slipped her other hand into Iroh's, "Which is kind of funny, because the two of them haven't even really come to terms with that, but kind of sad because I think Mako genuinely regrets ending things with Asami all those years ago."

Iroh tried not to roll his eyes; the memories of Korra and Mako's relationship - no matter how brief - were never pleasant, and though he and Mako weren't the best of friends, Iroh had to feel for the boy. He'd been on the unlucky end in life one too many times.

"Maybe he does regret it, but maybe like you, Asami Sato isn't the person the fates have in mind for Mako." he said, his eyes falling shut as he intertwined their fingers, "He can't let himself cling to a person that isn't meant to be his."

A soft hum left Korra's lips in response to his words, and for a moment Iroh thought she was falling asleep on him, but just as quickly she was pushing herself to her feet.

"Korra?" he muttered, brows furrowing in slight confusion.

"I think," she began, "I'm going to have a cup of tea."

Before he could stop her, she was out of the room and halfway down the hall, leaving Iroh chuckling as he tried to take another sip of his own tea; tea helps.

Tea always helps.

**continued.**


End file.
